The key facts

  • Rheinmetall acknowledged the results of the Swedish Skyranger tests as unsatisfactory
  • The system was planned to be supplied to Ukraine to counter drones
  • New training firings are scheduled for April of next year

Failed tests and the company's plans

The German defense conglomerate Rheinmetall has acknowledged that the results of tests of its mobile Skyranger anti-aircraft systems, conducted in Sweden where the systems were used against Ukrainian drone operators, were unsatisfactory. This was reported by Gazeta.Ru citing RIA Novosti and the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. The company stated that the results have 'not yet reached the required level' and that it will continue to improve the system; new training firings are scheduled for April of next year.

Context: Skyranger and Ukraine

Rheinmetall is Germany's largest defense company. It supplies military equipment to Ukraine and is building an ammunition factory there; the conglomerate had planned to supply the Skyranger to Kyiv specifically for countering drones. The company had assured that each Skyranger system is capable of covering an area of 16 square kilometers, guaranteeing the complete destruction of all drones in that zone. Thus, the acknowledgment of unsatisfactory test results concerns a system whose deliveries to Ukraine were part of the conglomerate's stated plans; the publication does not report any revision of these plans.

Other areas of the conglomerate's work

In addition to the Skyranger project, Rheinmetall is involved in other programs: earlier, in Britain, for the first time in 20 years, the production of tank barrels was resumed with its participation.